Avon Lake or bust!

I am much improved today. Will continue the ice and heat sessions and laying down much of the day. Riding into town this afternoon to pick up S.S. trip money, and run a few errands. Also will see my chiropractor for an "adjustment" as he calls it. If all is well by the time I get back, I'm going to try riding up tomorrow and Friday. About 280 miles each day. Haven't told my cousin about the back yet, so the reunion is still on . . .

A good Chiropractor is a God Send for bad back people like me and I think you! My guy is retiring and the wife and I are scared. We'll have to hunt around for another good one and that hurts! (Pun intended).

Man, thats great, hoping for the best for you... let us know...

Leaving here in about an hour. Discovered a fork seal leak yesterday and got a kit and tore down the front end last night, but I couldn't get the old seals out nor separate the upper tubes from the sliders. Very disappointing. There were no metal washers over the seals, so I at least put those in and buttoned it back up. When I get back, I'm going to have to take the forks to a shop and have them do it.

Rode a lot yesterday and the ol' back is really buggared in a couple places, but I'm going boys. Will post later when I get back next week.

Thanks HRK. My trip to Avon Lake was a bust. But first a word about the seals. When I reassembled the forks I rode about 200 miles and no leaks. Who woulda thunk. I took that as a good omen - but the day wasn't over yet!

Anyway, I was west of Charlottesville, Va. tooling my way to Ohio, and I pulled up to a convenience store way out in the sticks. The grade was much steeper than I anticipated and before I knew it I was rolling backwards at a very alarming rate. Before I could get my foot on the brake, the bike went over on the left side and broke the clutch lever and bent my new shift lever and bent my tail light/license bracket into the saddlebag. Broke the glass lens, too. No way to fix all that stuff and get back on the road. Bike was disabled. Trip over. After jumping thru many hoops with AAA and my insurance company, the only alternative left was to try to hire a tow. The cheapest price was $600, more than I had with me. I waited over 4 hours for the guy but he never showed up. It was getting dark out. Figured I'd sleep in the grass next to the bike. In the meantime, an old hippie/biker pulled in and came over and checked out my bike. Said he would go home and get a trailer and take me home. So we spent 5 hours on the road and had a great time. When we got home it was around 12:30 AM. He even helped me push the bike up the ramp into my shop where we stayed and jabbered another hour or so. He owns 2 ironhead Sportsters and a 2005 Soft tail that he chopped. I gave him $500 though he wasn't comfortable taking that much. I really had to force him to take it LOL! I assured him it was worth every penny. He probably got home around 6 this morning.
We are going to stay in communication with each other. I emailed him this morning and sent a few pictures.

So, I ended up having an adventure though it wasn't (as Frodo Baggins once said) "quite what I expected"!

Glad to hear your "adventure" worked out OK for you. I had just written a story for clubs newsletter about this years Laconia as compared to my Laconia's from 30+ years ago. In general, it was about the "adventures" while two-wheeling. Although we certainly don't leave on a trip looking for troubles or uncomfortable situations, it seems that surviving them makes the adventure! I hope you get the bike back together again real soon! :cheers:

I'll bet Laconia has changed quite a bit from 30 years ago. I ordered most of the parts I need, but I'm still looking for a replacement glass for my tail light. It's one of those replica 1929 tail lights. I guess the bike will be down at least two weeks.

HRK, if you're reading this, I couldn't break the bottom bolts loose holding the forks together. I rounded one of them off with the allen wrench trying to loosen them. At least the seals don't leak - there's only 1600 miles on 'em.

Do you mean the pinch bolts in the triple trees or the bolt in the bottom of the slider?? If in the slider you need an impact tool to remove them...and if they're Showa sliders it's a metric allen

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The bolts in the bottom of the sliders. Neither one would budge. I guess I "Joshed 'em"! Hadn't thought of an impact tool. They are metric allen bolts. Since the seals aren't leaking, I'm going to leave them alone for now.

This is so bizarre the way this little accident happened. If I'd had a front brake I could have easily stopped the bike from rolling backwards without taking either foot off the ground and just eased it down the grade, which was about 50 or 60 feet downhill on asphalt and steeper than it first appeared. Wasn't used to rolling backwards on the bike and lost my balance before I could hit the rear brake. I took a pretty good tumble and got a few abrasions here and there, but nothing serious.

I felt like an idiot about the whole thing, and still do . . .

Oops! And now, for my next senior moment :gah:just discovered that when I ordered my new clutch lever along with other parts from J&P, I forgot to order the clutch cable pivot pin w/bushings, a $2 part. Have to send in another order for an additional cost of $12 (and several more days waiting time).

Finally located the glass lenses for my tail light. Will order them today from NYC Choppers.

Yesterday got the license/tail light bracket off and beat it into a reasonable shape. It's not as flat as it once was, but it'll do. Something like $100 to replace all the broken little pieces. I started the beast up yesterday and she ran pretty good.

Below is a pic of the store where I had the accident. I was parked next to the car up by the building. Other pics are the broken bits 'n' pieces I'm replacing.

Josh, tough luck man, but stuff happens... you just roll with it and keep riding!

Oh yeah, no problem. NYC choppers has been 5 days draggin' ass about the tail light lens. Was able to find another one at Lick's Cycle ($20), but now I can't get on their website to order. Something's wrong with it.

Today I'm going into town to a NAPA store and see if I can get a generic plastic lens for the tail light. Might have to trim and drill it and would be cheaper than the glass one. Otherwise this could hold me up from riding for another 2 weeks

Duck brand tail light repair tape at your local Wally World...it doesn't have to be pretty,just legal Might hold you over until the new lens comes....

Walmart.com: Duck Brand Red Tail Light Tape, 2" x 72": Sealants, Fillers & Adhesives

Thanks. I just came back from NAPA with a plastic lens that I'm gonna try out. Not as pretty as the original, but it will do. Have to trim a bit off the diameter and drill 2 holes. Might work. Will post photo of finished job.

You don't want something like a lens to keep you off the road...anything to cover it and as long as it shines red when you brake...yer rollin'

Here's the new tail light lens & modified light and bracket. I think it looks good. It's actually a bit brighter than the old lens. I also cut the middle section of the metal rim off. A few hours and $5. I'm stoked!

I tried about a half dozen times to upload the pic but my PC seems to have a mind of it's own today . . . .:gah:

I'm looking forward to riding next week when I get the remaining parts from J&P.